Novo Nordisk Pharmatech delivered a satisfactory 2021 result with external sales above our expectations, a net profit that was on par with last year, solid progress within our production footprint, and our pipeline of new products.
The external sales were better than expected, driven by the increased sales of technical insulin. The increased demand continued during the year, driven both by growth in the biopharmaceutical industry and increased demand due to COVID-19-related activities. The Quats product group, on the other hand, declined both due to stock building in 2020 at large customers, as well as increased competition.
In 2021 the company established a sales office in the US. Thus, we now have a presence in Copenhagen, Singapore, and the east and west coasts of the USA and we are optimally geographically positioned to support our customers globally.
In R&D we progressed our pipeline within resins and enzymes. We developed a new affinity resin for Novo Nordisk that is now going into production and we initiated a new application study to show the superior properties of our mixed mode resins.
In 2021, we also invested in the rebuilding of a multi-product purification plant for speciality process enzymes. This facility is an important cornerstone in our growth strategy where we aim for a portfolio of speciality enzymes supporting the external market for advanced therapy medicinal products (ATMP’s). To fuel this pipeline, we also signed a collaboration agreement with Novozymes.
Our quality performance continued at a very high level in 2021 where we managed to host 22 audits, including a DMA inspection.
You can read the full annual report for 2021 here.